ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
February 13, 2020
This is a letter to our friends –
Term Limits
The first time I recall hearing about term limits was after Franklin D. Roosevelt had just won his 3rd term as President. Congress set a Constitutional Amendment and the people ratified it. A President may now only serve 2 terms.
George Washington created a tradition by choosing to serve only two terms. All others followed it until Roosevelt. BTW – He died in his 3rd term.
Why do people want term limits? Most, I believe, would respond, “Once in office, the incumbent has advantages over challengers. Often, it is the only way to get them out of office!” In other words, “The voters are voting dumb!”
We have term limits now and (apparently) people are still voting dumb! Just look at California state politics!
Think about this – Do you want someone telling you who you may not vote for in the next election? That is what term limits do. Suppose you have a gifted legislator who is doing a great job and is term limited out.
Unintended consequences – When a new man arrives in office he must find a staff that can show him the ropes. About the time he is experienced he is termed out. By default, a corps of experienced, unelected staffers end up making most of the decisions!
If “voting dumb” is the problem, then raising the standards of the voters is the solution. “Oh”, you respond, “but that is too hard.” We have a lot more support going for us than the colonials in the 1800’s. We have the Declaration, the Constitution and 200 years of experience in “self-governing”.
What we need, that the colonials had, is a better understanding of how reliable Biblical principles apply to all aspects of life; government, education, sports, economics, family, …. .
Adult education is important for today. There are hundreds of groups shouting from the housetops (like this one). Youth education in reliable principles is vital if there is ever to be a corps of leaders to guide our ship of state in future years. I hope every reader will watch for opportunities to support principle approach schools.
These columns are archived since 12/10/09
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